MSP Fugitive and K9 Units, US Marshals Capture Accused Child Rapist



EDIT: The original release contained an incorrect age and hometown for POWELL. The below release has been edited to contain POWELL's correct information.

Massachusetts State Police fugitive unit Troopers and an MSP K9 Unit team and partner officers, after a nightlong search for an accused child rapist, ultimately captured him before dawn today in Stoneham woodland.

Members of the MSP Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section (MSP VFAS) and US Marshals Service Task Force Officers (USMS TFOs) developed information that suspect RICKLAND POWELL, 59, of Belmont, might be in a wooded area in that town.

MSP K9 Unit Trooper Christina Cavagnaro and her partner Thor assisted in the search, tracking into the woods. At about 3 AM the K9 team, along with MSP VFAS Troopers and USMS TFOs, located POWELL, who had hung himself from a tree.

Troopers and Officers cut the suspect down. The suspect was still alive and was transported to an area hospital. The Belmont Police Department, which conducted the investigation that led to the child rape warrants against POWELL, assumed custody of him.

Belmont Police recently requested assistance from MSP VFAS in searching for POWELL, for whom Belmont detectives had obtained a warrant for the following offenses: Rape of a Child with Force (four counts); Aggravated Statutory Rape (four counts); Indecent Assault and Battery on a Child Under 14 (two counts); Posing a Child in a Sex Act; and Distributing Obscene Material.

The charges stem from evidence indicating that POWELL raped a female child multiple times.

Cambridge Police and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department assisted in the search for POWELL.